No is ok

5 October

Posted by:

Michael Grose

The word 'No' is one of the hardest words for parents to say to kids. But as many parents are discovering saying no to many of their children's requests for junk food, sweets and soft drink is actually saying yes to a healthy lifestyle.

Parents have the ultimate responsibility to bring up healthy kids. That means we need to make sure they get enough exercise and sleep as well as ensuring kids eat a healthy diet. It's easy to blame junk-food companies but this is a cop-out.

Certainly junk food companies are very good at creating wannabe consumers as their marketing really does hit the mark. This means kids often pester their parents for sweets, junk food and other less healthy foods. So parents have to be tough if they want their kids to stay in shape.

I recently met a mother who says 'no' to her children's requests for treats about 90 per cent of the time. Sounds like hard work but she was unperturbed. She doesn't deny her children these foods, but she keeps them as treats. Everything in moderation is her motto.

About Michael

Michael Grose has been helping parents raise confident, resilient kids for over 20 years.
He is a current Channel 9 Today Show parenting expert, a popular & entertaining speaker and a frequent columnist for a variety of media.
Michael is the author of 8 parenting books, including his latest release Thriving!, widely acknowledged 'as the new roadmap for raising 3-12 year olds with confidence, character and resilience."
Michael is married with three adult children who have all successfully flown the parent nest.